Retrieval method in reading dictionaries

ABSTRACT

A method for retrieving words from a dictionary in which one word representative of each page of the dictionary is stored in a memory. A desired word is compared with the stored words and as a result of the comparison the page on which the desired word is printed is displayed on an optical display device. The representative word may be the last word on a page, an imaginary word between the last word on the page and the first word on the next page, or any other word which is representative of a page.

United States Patent 11 1 Murakoshi et a1.

1 1 RETRIEVAL METHOD 1N READING DICTIONARIES [75] Inventors: MakotoMurakoshi; Shingo Oone;

Hiroyuki Ueda; Masakazu Hashiue; l-lirotoshi Endo, all of Asaka, Japan[73] Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.,

Kanagawa, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 26, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 66,952

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Aug. 27, 1969 Japan 44/67796 [52]US. Cl. 340/1725, 353/27 [51] Int. Cl 606i 15/02, G06f 15/40 [58] Fieldof Search 340/1725; 353/25, 353/26, 27

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,612,676 10/1971 Ooba eta1. 353/27 3,585,597 6/1971 Holmerud 340/1725 3,325,786 6/1967 Shashouaet al 340/1725 3,242,470 3/1966 Hagelbarger et al. 340/1725 3,662,3485/1972 Weiss 340/1725 3,601,808 8/1971 Vlack 340/1725 i 1 PHABET 10MEMORY 1 1 5 PAGE 1 1 Dec. 25, 1973 Primary Examiner-Gareth D. ShawAttorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn & Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A methodfor retrieving words from a dictionary in which one word representativeof each page of the dictionary is stored in a memory. A desired word iscompared with the stored words and as a result of the comparison thepage on which the desired word is printed is displayed on an opticaldisplay device. The representative word may be the last word on a page,an imaginary word between the last word on the page and the first wordon the next page, or any other word which is representative of a page.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures COMPARATOR GATE FIG. 3

COMPARATOR l4 7 VML REGISTER PAIENTEUUEEZSHW M F: B A. Hut-LL P M n Y U[E W ml mm? 5 BU M 6 EUR? L Mm II UUUUF LU M F UUUDUU BUD A IA INVENTORSMAKOTU MURAKOSHI SHINGO OUUE HIROYUKI UEUA MASAKAZU HASHIUE HlRUTOSH'ENDU v c fuz Zf/Ku/e/I, 7 0m BY F WK ATTORNEYS RETRIEVAL METHOD INREADING DICTIONARIES The present invention relates generally to aretrieval method, and particularly to a retrieval method in a readingapparatus for dictionaries in which the desired page of the dictionaryis recorded on a microfilm and is selectively projected on a projectionscreen by striking the keys of phonetical signs in the order of thephonetical signs in the word.

The present invention is applicable to a retrieval device for retrievingthe page of a dictionary or encyclopedia on which the desired word isfound in a microfilm system, and more particularly to an apparatus inwhich the pages of a dictionary or encyclopedia recorded on a microfilmor super-microfilm are retrieved by striking phonetical sign keys in theorder of the phonetical signs arranged in the word to be retrieved.Accordingly, the present invention is applicable only to the retrievalapparatus handling a book or information storage in which the wordscontained therein are arranged in the phonetical order as in thedictionary, encyclopedia and the like.

In general, it is very inconvenient to handle or carry thickdictionaries such as an encyclopedia, thesaurus and the like. In alibrary in which only one set of thesauruses is kept usually, it isinconvenient for one to consult the thesaurus while another is using it.Furthermore, the location of information is difficult for a child orsomeone who is not familiar with the order of the phonetical signs suchas alphabetical order.

in view of the above facts, it is desirable that a novel device foreasily consulting dictionaries or other thick books be developed. One ofthe devices of this type of dictionary reading device is a microfilmreader. In a microfilm reader, the dictionary is recorded on a sheet orroll of microfilm for the sake of convenience in handling and carryingit. it is desirable that the retrieval of the page thereof on which adesired word is contained is effected by striking the keys of phoneticalsigns in the order of the signs arranged in the word. If the desiredword in the thick dictionary is projected on the projection screen justafter the striking ofthe keys, much time and labor will be saved inconsulting the dictionary. Furthermore, it will be easy for even a smallchild or someone who is not familiar with the order of the arrangementof the word therein to locate information.

In carrying out the abovedescribed retrieval of a word or page, adifficult problem is presented. Since a great number of words arecontained in a dictionary, such a great number of codes of the wordsshould be arranged in a memory in an arrangement corresponding to thepages on which the words are contained. That is, one word-to-one pagecorrespondence for every word should be made in the memory in theretrieval device. This requires a fairly large memory capacity, whichresults in high costs. It is therefore required to decrease the size ofthe memory in the information processor, for the memory occupies a largearea of the process. It is also very important to reduce the memory sizein order to shorten the access time.

in this invention, instead of all the words on one page, onerepresentative word on one page, e.g., the last word on the page, ismemorized in a memory thereby decreasing the number of the words to bememorized. ln this manner, the number of the memory bits has beenreduced to 0.8 percent of the memory bits required in theabove-described prior art method of information processing, in theprocessing Kenkyushas New English-Japanese Dictionary, which is thelargest English-Japanese Dictionary in Japan. The representative wordand the desired word to read are compared through a logic circuit tofind the page on which the desired word is contained.

In order to compare the words in a logic circuit, the words are coded sothat they may be handled by an electrical circuit. The alphabetical 26letters are coded Thus, the alphabet is converted into binary code offive figures. Any code may be employed for coding the alphabet. Inalmost all the dictionaries, the words are ar ranged in the phoneticalorder. Such arrangement can be regarded as an orderly increase under adefinite principle. There are some exceptions such as Chinese- Japanesedictionary. The present invention is applicable for all the dictionariesand encyclopedias of the type which contain words in orderly increasingorder.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a method ofretrieving a word in a dictionary, and more particularly a method ofretrieving a page of a dictionary on which the desired word iscontained.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofretrieving a page of a dictionary recorded on microfilm or the like onwhich a desired word is contained by comparing the desired word withwords representing the pages of the dictionary recorded in a memory.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method ofretrieving a page of a dictionary on which a desired word is containedin which the page is retrieved by striking the keys of phonetical signsin the order of the arrangement of the phonetical signs in the word.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be madeapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the retrieving device for readingdictionaries employing the method of retrieving pages in accordance withthe present invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan view ofa sheet of microfilm or microfiche on whichevery page of a dictionary is recorded for use in the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a film memory disc having memories for use inretrieving in the present invention, and

FIG. 4 is a view explaining the logic in retrieving the Considerationmust be given to the number of the phonetical signs required forretrieving the page on which a desired word is contained. 1f the numberof the letters of the phonetical signs is too small, the probabilpage ofa dictionary in accordance with the present in- 5 ity of retrieving thecorrect page is reduced because vention. many words have common initialletters and those Now referring to FIG. 1, the last word in one page iswords having the same initial letters exist over several put into memoryin coded form. All the last words are pages. For example, where threeletters are employed memorized i h memory f ll h pages f a dicforretrieving, the words having "con" in the initial part tionary in acorresponded relation with the pages. 10 are found Over 28 Pages of theKehkyusha dictionary, Along with the coded word, a coordinate signal ofthe from P 354 to th this case, the reader WOuld frame of the image ofthe page on the microfilm is rehave to be mahuatty Operated for teedthlthe microcorded. Thus, the coordinate signal of the page is reficheframe y ttameease retttevthg the Word corded in the memory in relationwith the code of the the miet'efiehe should be fed manually 27 last wordcontained on the page By striking the keys times. 1f on the other handthe number of the letters is 12 in the order of the letters of thedesired word, the too large. the p y of the memory required is largerdesired word is placed in register 14 in the coded form. though theProbability of retrieving the right P g is The registered code iscompared in comparator 16 with also thel'eased- Also the operator isrequired to strike the code of the last word memorized in the memory. al rg n m r of y which n be r l me to Comparator 16 is conventional d maycorrespond to 20 the operator. if seven letters are used for selecting,the Comparator 358, illustrated in FIG. 6 of US. Pat. No. probability ofrequiring manual feeding is within the 3,345,612 to Goldman. When thecode of the last word tolerable range of 1 percent. becomes equal to orgreater than the registered word, In FIG. 4, the pages of the dictionary26, 28, and the coordinate signal of the page is read out through 32 areshown for the case of retrieving the word gate 18 to a driving mechanismfor moving the micro- 25 neighbor". In this case, when the keys 12 arestruck film relative to an optical reading device for reading seventimes in the order of the letters in the word, the out the desired word.The driving mechanism and optibinary code of 35 figures is memorized inthe register cal reading device is conventional and does not per se 14as follows: form a portion of the invention. An example of the01l100010l0100100111010000001101111 driving mechanism and reading devicewhich can be 30 N E 1 G H B O used with the present invention isdescribed in US. Pat. 1n the memory 10 is recorded information for theNo. 2,783,454 to North. words representing the page together with thepage Now the present invention will be described in detail codes, asfollows:

P.1 AAAwM 00001 00001 00001 00000 00000 00000 00000 P. 1107 NEoLIoI 01110 00101 00111 01100 01 001 00111 01001 P. 1100 NEITHER 01110 0010100111 10100 01000 00101 10010 P. 2131 ZYTHUM 11010 11001 10100 0100010101 01101 00000 with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof.Between the words representing the pages and the de- Kenkyushas NewEnglish-Japanese Dictionary insired word, there is a relation asfollows: cluding about 140,000 words on 2,132 pages was se- AAA NEGLIGINE1GHBO NE1THER lected. One page includes 66 words on the average. AnZYTHUM. example of a microfiche 20 used for recording the Through thecomparing circuit 16 for comparing the pages of the dictionary in thepresent invention is value of the binary numbers, it is found that thepage shown in FIG. 2. The whole dictionary of 2,132 pages 1 198 includesthe desired word "neighbor". of Kenkyushas New English-JapaneseDictionary was In the dictionary used in the above-described emable tobe recorded on a sheet of microfilm, or microbodiment, the binary codefor 2132 pages requires 12 fiche, of4 in. X 6 in. size through amicrophotographic bits and the code for the word with seven lettersresystem. Aframe 22 ofthe image ofa page ofdictionary quires 35 bits.Therefore, 47 bits (12 35) are reof the size 2.1mm X 3.0mm is projectedonto a projecquired to give information for one word in the memory tionscreen of the size 210mm X 297mm through a 10. There are 140,000 wordsin the dictionary. Except magnifying optical system of 100Xmagnification. The for the control information such as clock, command,frames of the image of the pages are arranged on the start and the like,the total quantity of the information microfiche in the arrangement of45 rows and 48 lines. to be memorized in the memory becomes Accordingly,2,160 frames can be recorded in the area 47 X 140,000 6,600,000 bits. of94.9mm (45 X 2.1) X 144mm (48 X 3.0). However, in accordance with themethod ofthe present The memory disc 24 used in memory 10 of thepresinvention, this quantity is reduced to ent invention is shown inFIG. 3. The code of the word 47 X 2,132 100,000 bits. representing onepage is recorded in the radial direc- Further, the information of thepages can be eliminated tion together with the code of the page. Thecode is recorded as a pattern on the disc so that the code may be readby a photoelectric cell.

by employing a counter for counting the information of the wordrepresenting the page, since the number of the pages is serial in thedictionary. Thus, the quantity of the infgrrnzflor can be reduced to 3 52,l: 2 =75,000 bits. When a subsequent or prior page is projected ontothe projection screen, a reversible counter is used for making theoutput indicative of the smaller or larger number of the page.

The above-described page representing word is not limited to the lastword of the page, but may be any combination of letters to be arrangedbetween the last word of the page and the first word of the next page.For instance, the word for representing the page 28 can be selected asfollows: The last word of page 28 is NEGLIGIBLE and the first word ofthe next page 29 is NEGOTIABILITY. Among the combination of letters tobe arranged between the two words, there are words of a smaller numberof letters. By selecting such an imaginary word for representing thepage, the number of letters and accordingly the quantity of informationof the word can be reduced. in the above instance, there are a few wordswhich are composed of four letters among the imaginary words to bearranged between the two words such as NEGM, NEGN. By appropriatelyselecting the words for representing the page as described hereinabove,the total number of letters, and accordingly the quantity of theinformation, can be reduced by 25 percent over the method in which thelast word is selected as the representative word. Therefore, the numberof bits is reduced to 75,000 X $4 56,000 bits.

Thus, the quantity of the information is reduced to (56,000 X[OW/(6,600,000) 0.8% of the quantity of the information required in theprior art in accordance with the present invention.

Though in the above description of the present invention the recordingmedium of the page of the dictionary is a microfiche or other microfilmsuch as a rolled microfilm, other recording mediums bearing an opticalimage of the page can be employed.

The memory for memorizing the information of the representative words isnot necessarily an optical memory, but may be any other known memorysuch as a magnetic tape or magnetic core.

As apparent from the above detailed description of the presentinvention, the invention is applicable for any dictionary orencyclopedia in which the head words are orderly arranged, increasing ordecreasing as the page increases.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine implemented method of retrieving a desired word from adictionary comprising:

storing the words ofthe dictionary written in phonetical signs inalphabetical order in groups on a microfilm, each of said groupscorresponding to a page in said dictionary, said microfilm beingoperably mounted in a microfilm display apparatus,

designating each group by a numerical address. the numerical address ofeach group corresponding to the dictionary page number of the pagecorresponding to the group, designating each group by an imaginaryrepresentative word having a phonetical weight greater than that of thelast word of the group and less than that of the first word of the nextgroup, said imaginary word containing the minimum number of lettersnecessary to distinguish it from said last word and said first word,converting each of said imaginary representative words into anelectrical code, each of said imaginary representative word codes havinga numerical weight corresponding to the phonetical weight of thecorresponding imaginary representative word,

storing said representative word codes in a machine memory in anumerically increasing order,

converting said desired word into an electrical code corresponding tothe code of said imaginary representative words, successively comparingthe desired word code with each representative word code until thenumerical weight of the representative word code becomes greater thanthe numerical weight of the desired word code, generating an addresssignal corresponding to the address of the group of words represented bythe first imaginary representative word code which has a numericalweight equal to or greater than the numerical weight of the desired wordcode determined during said successive comparison, and

addressing said microfilm display apparatus with said address signal todisplay the addressed group of words.

2. The method of retrieving a desired word from a dictionary as setforth in claim 1, wherein said step of generating an address signalcomprises storing in said machine memory for each of said representativeword codes, the numerical address of the corresponding group of words,reading out the stored numerical address associated with the firstrepresentative word code having a numerical weight greater than thenumerical weight of the desired word code determined during saidsuccessive comparing.

i i l k i

1. A machine implemented method of retrieving a desired word from adictionary comprising: storing the words of the dictionary written inphonetical signs in alphabetical order in groups on a microfilm, each ofsaid groups corresponding to a page in said dictionary, said microfilmbeing operably mounted in a microfilm display apparatus, designatingeach group by a numerical address, the numerical address of each groupcorresponding to the dictionary page number of the page corresponding tothe group, designating each group by an imaginary representative wordhaving a phonetical weight greater than that of the last word of thegroup and less than that of the first word of the next group, saidimaginary word containing the minimum number of letters necessary todistinguish it from said last word and said first word, converting eachof said imaginary representative words into an electrical code, each ofsaid imaginary representative word codes having a numerical weightcorresponding to the phonetical weight of the corresponding imaginaryrepresentative word, storing said representative word codes in a machinememory in a numerically increasing order, converting said desired wordinto an electrical code corresponding to the code of said imaginaryrepresentative words, successively comparing the desired word code witheach representative word code until the numerical weight of therepresentative word code becomes greater than the numerical weight ofthe desired word code, generating an address signal corresponding to theaddress of the group of words represented by the first imaginaryrepresentative word code which has a numerical weight equal to orgreater than the numerical weight of the desired word code determinedduring said successive comparison, and addressing said microfilm displayapparatus with said address signal to display the addressed group ofwords.
 2. The method of retrieving a desired word from a dictionary asset forth in claim 1, wherein said step of generating an address signalcomprises storing in said machine memory for each of said representativeword codes, the numerical address of the corresponding group of words,reading out the stored numerical address associated with the firstrepresentative word code having a numerical weight greater than thenumerical weight of the desired word code determined during saidsuccessive comparing.